The Essentials Of Electrical Safety At Public Events

You may have caught our recent blog outlining the best ways to power your event efficiently – but there’s still some other important information you need to know! Whether you’re putting on a public event like a music concert, or a corporate gathering like a networking event, the safety of your guests should be absolutely paramount. (It’s certainly a key concern of ours here at Rubber Box – and it’s a key characteristic of every one of the power distros that we produce.) In this week’s blog, we’ll run you through just a couple of the essentials on ensuring the safety of everyone – guests or employees – present at your event.

Preparation and Planning

No matter the size of your event, a thorough risk assessment should always be top of your list – tailored to the layout of your event and venue, of course! Be particularly mindful of capacity, and how many people your event can safely hold. There are sadly tragic historical precedents for venues filled to over-capacity, and overcrowding can seriously obstruct evacuation efforts.

Meanwhile, looking at your temporary installations (such as your stages or demonstration booths), you need to guarantee that you’re shielding any electrical equipment that might be exposed to rain, sleet or other adverse weather conditions with sufficiently protective covers, enclosures or shelters. Similarly, you need to choose and rate all cables and power distros to meet basic electrical safety standards, and withstand adverse weather conditions. On that note, our power distros are rated as standard to IP44, which means they’re easily capable of resisting rain. If necessary, or you’ve been advised to, make sure to install RCDs and similar electrical safety devices where you think there might be danger of an overload. And don’t forget the basics – route them or cover them to make sure no one trips over them!

Depending on where your venue is situated and the available security on site, it may well be worth taking steps to limit access to your electrical systems by unauthorised people, whether they’re untrained employees or members of the general public.

What Should Happen In The Case Of An Emergency?

Your forward planning naturally needs to include an action plan in case of an emergency. As the very basics, you’ll need to ensure that there are emergency signs and lighting, and that there is sufficient power for them from an independent power source (for example, a separate generator), in case the mains electricity supply fails. Never assume your guests will be familiar with the escape routes – they need to be well-lit, well signposted and lined with trained staff to ease the process of the evacuation.

In outdoor settings – like music festivals – if you’re using floodlighting or lighting towers, you’ll need to ensure that they’re not shining directly in people’s faces as they leave the venue, as it can lead to annoyance at best, and dangerous confusion at worst. What’s more, it’ll be necessary to devise an effective way to communicate with the public as well, whether that’s over loudspeakers or via social media. If an emergency situation begins to develop, you need to get the message out there as quickly as you can.

Now, this is only a broad overview of the measures you should be taking – this blog isn’t completely exhaustive. If in doubt, always take advice from an expert. As we touched upon above, our own power distribution boxes are designed with safety foremost in mind. You can browse our range of 63a supply power distribution equipment here, or to make an enquiry you can simply call us on 01282 677 910.